Total Retail, sister brand of Women in Retail Leadership Circle, last month released its 50 Best Retail Tips of 2019. For this annual report, the Total Retail editorial team spent time in last year’s fourth quarter poring over each piece of content published in 2019 to identify the 50 very best tips of the year. We reviewed the content published in the brand’s e-newsletter (Total Retail Report) and on its website, identifying the 50 tips that we believe will help retail executives lead more successful businesses. These tips cover virtually every facet of running a successful retail business, from customer experience to e-commerce to marketing to mobile to technology, and much more.

To give you a sense of the valuable tips you can expect to find in the full report, here are three of my favorites:

  • While ordering less frequently can help businesses trim transportation costs, it can also have unintended negative consequences on inventory levels. Building these costs into forecasting models can help businesses optimize order frequency based on transit costs as well as service-line needs, resulting in higher profits. — Rod Daugherty, Blue Ridge, “Keeping Up With Customer Demand Through Data-Driven Forecasting,” Total Retail Report , June 18
  • Take a second look at gamification, which was once dismissed as a fad. In loyalty programs, game mechanics include status and tiers, leveling up and unlocks, missions and challenges, goal setting, and more. The study found that members who engage with game mechanics enjoy participating in the program almost twice as much as those who don’t, and there’s a 1.7x enjoyment lift when game mechanics are used. In addition, eight in 10 members engage with these mechanics when present, yet only half of programs employ them today. — Scott Robinson, Bond Brand Loyalty, “Experience Matters Most to Loyalty Program Members,” Total Retail Report , June 18
  • Viewers are seeing branded video content in more places than ever before. Because of this, attention spans are shrinking and viewer expectations are growing. In fact, marketers have only 10 seconds to grab a viewer’s attention and 30 seconds to communicate all information before a third of the audience is lost. It’s best to ensure all pertinent information — especially your call to action — is included in the first 10 seconds of the video. — Anna Ji, Clipchamp, “The Dos and Don’ts for Creating Facebook and Instagram Video Ads in 2019,” Total Retail Report, Sept. 20

Leverage these tips to spring your business into action. The chosen tips are meant to drive top- and bottom-line gains for your organization, and are prescriptive in nature. While not all 50 may be applicable to your business — at least not yet — there’s enough here for everyone to get started. Begin incorporating these tips into your 2020 business processes for success in the new year and beyond.

In addition, these tips are meant to be shared with your colleagues and peers within the retail industry. The report features action items that likely extend beyond your slice of the business, and touch many parts of your organization. Educate not only yourself, but those around you as well.

Download Total Retail’s 50 Best Retail Tips of 2019 report today, and prepare for a more prosperous 2020.